1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to beverage dispensing and dispensers and more specifically to the beverage dispensers having electrical controls for automatically controlling the filling of a cup to a predetermined level.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Beverages are consumed in great quantities in the United States and throughout the world. Beverages are sometimes sold in a prepackaged form, such as cans or bottles, and sometimes dispense on demand into cups for immediate consumption by consumers. Dispensing on demand into paper cups and the like is the method of choice in many restaurants, snack shops, amusement concession stands and the like. Dispensing into cups from a bulk source of beverage concentrate and carbonated water allows the provider of a beverage to ship the materials to the point of purchase in bulk in reusable containers or large disposable containers. The cost of individual serving containers is thereby saved. Manufacturing and disposing of such individual serving containers can also have a significant impact on the environment. Thus, dispensing beverages into a cup as opposed to selling a can of beverage has both economic and environmental advantages.
Dispensers of carbonated beverages are found in most restaurants, concession stands and snack bars. Such dispensers take many forms. Many dispensers are manually actuated by placing a cup against a lever below a dispensing valve. Placing the cup against the lever actuates a switch which opens the dispensing valve allowing the beverage to flow into the cup. When the cup is full, the operator pulls the cup away from the lever and the valve closes. Another type of dispenser is known as a portion control dispenser. It is operated by placing a cup below a dispensing valve and selecting a portion size by push button or the like. A measured amount of beverage is filled into the cup and the valve automatically closes. The cup is then removed from the dispenser and tendered to the consumer. A third type of dispenser is sometimes known as an automatic dispenser. With this type of dispenser, a cup is placed below a dispensing valve against a lever. Placing the cup against the lever closes a valve switch which allows the beverage to flow through the valve into the cup. When the cup is filled, an electric potential applied to the beverage causes a small current to flow from the dispensing valve through the beverage to the lever. The current is sensed and causes the valve to be closed. One of the advantages of this type of dispenser is that an operator may place a cup below the dispensing valve, initiate filling and turn his attention to other tasks. Filling will be completed automatically and the attendant may take the filled cup at his leisure. One such automatic dispenser is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,692 to Bennett which is incorporated herein by reference.
The valve and dispenser for automatically dispensing carbonated beverages as described above are well developed and perform well. The electronic controls for properly utilizing the valve and dispenser described above have not, heretofore, operated in a way which uniformly provides the automatic dispensing advantages described in the Bennett patent. Variations because of differences in installation, differences in environmental conditions and differences in beverages characteristics have led to imprecise filling.